The Tummy Tuck: More Career Women Opting for it, says New York City Plastic Surgeon

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Before many career women with children resume their careers, they ask for a tummy tuck, according to New York City plastic surgeon Kenneth M. Rose, M.D. A Tummy tuck is indicated for women to repair the effects of childbirth. Men ask for the operation because they often have loose hanging skin on the abdomen after losing weight.

Multiple pregnancies can cause the lower stomach to 'pooch out'.

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Plastic surgeon Kenneth M. Rose, M.D. has noticed a new trend among career women in New York City. Many are taking several or more years away from their careers to have children. But before rejoining the workforce, they want their figures restored to their pre-childbirth state.

Tummy Tuck Patients

"Many more career women than ever before are coming in, asking for a tummy tuck procedure before heading back to work," says Dr. Rose who is board certified in plastic surgery. "Multiple pregnancies can cause the lower stomach to 'pooch out'."

Dr. Rose is also highly trained in hand and microvascular surgery.

Tummy tuck patients should have completed their families because childbirth cancels the effects of the surgery.

For instance, Kate, a 42-year-old attorney in Manhattan, was ready to resume her career after having two children, now one and three years old. (She did not want to be fully identified for privacy.)

Dieting and Exercise

"After having my children, I had to buy clothes several sizes too big just to fit around my middle," she says. "Dieting, sit-ups, yoga, Pilates and other exercises were no help in reducing my stomach."

During pregnancy, two long strips of stomach muscles sitting side-by-side and running from the sternum to the pubic area, are forced apart. That allows the internal organs to fall forward, resulting in extreme looseness and a bulging abdominal. Moreover, skin and tissues stretch beyond their ability to spring back to normal and don't always respond to exercise.

"After my tummy tuck, I walked into interviews with a nice flat stomach in stylish clothes and projected the confidence I felt," says Kate. "I am thrilled to look the way I do and have children."

Youthful Looking

A tummy tuck requires a hip-to-hip incision which is placed inside the bikini line so the scar is hidden by underwear and bathing suits. The surgeon pulls the skin and fat layer up to the lower edge of the patient's ribs and trims excess tissues. Then, in most cases, the two long strips of stomach muscles -- technically known as the abdominus rectus -- are sewn back together, creating a flatter abdomen. Sagging tissues excess skin and some fat are trimmed away. Outcome? Not only is the abdomen firmer and flatter, the waist is smaller and more youthful looking.

"Afterwards, I ask my patients to wear an abdominal binder for several weeks to insure the best possible healing," says Dr. Rose.

The binder is like an elastic corset and also prevents swelling. Small surgical drains are taken out in the doctor's office after two days and the patient is usually up and around within one or two days while going back to work is possible after 10 days to two weeks. Heavy lifting is verboten for about four weeks. Dr. Rose performs the surgery in his office or in a hospital with the patient under a general anesthesia. Depending on the patient, the procedure requires anywhere from two to five hours to complete.

"My C-section childbirth was much worse than the tummy tuck," Kate says. "I had very little pain and was fine within a week."

Liposuction

Men also ask for and receive tummy tucks but for different reasons.

"In most cases, men who have lost weight are left with hanging, loose skin on their abdomens," Dr. Rose says. "The tummy tuck is never a weight loss procedure because the majority of weight on both men and women is carried deeper inside the body around the internal organs."

Nursing is usually hard on the breasts because the glands swell and stretch the skin then lose internal volume. The result? Sagging breasts, a condition known to doctors as breast ptosis. (The breast lift, or mastopexy, is charged as a separate procedure although it may be performed at the time of the tummy tuck.)